Trash can holder



June 2, 1970 Filed Spt. 27, 1968 T. H. WILKES TRASH CAN HOLDER cogs 2 Sheets-Shee 1 IINVENTOR:

THOMAS H. WILKES June 2, 1970 Filed Sept. 27. 1968 T. H. WILKES 3,515,285

' TRASH CAN HOLDER 2 Sheets-Shee 2 INVENTOR:

THOMAS H. WI LKESE United States Patent Office 3,515,285 Patented June 2, 1970 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A trash can holder is fabricated of sheet metal and bolts. A central post has a series of bolt holes to adjust parts for different sized cans. Near the bottom of the post is bolted two pair of feet having notches to receive the bottom rim of the trash can and having a cam surface to guide the rim into the notches. The can is further supported by its handle in one of two fingers bolted to the post. The tops of the cans are held by pivoted arms having slots so the tops can slide back and forth to be centered on the cans regardless of the diameter of the cans.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to racks and supports and more particularly to a support for holding a trash can.

Description of the prior art Previously, workers in the field have disclosed supports to hold trash cans. However, the previous work has been more characterized by welded structures which were expensive to manufacture and, also, not adaptable for packaging in a small container so that they were convenient to ship and transport as is generally required by modern merchandising (e.g., Niskanen et al., 2,448,456). In general, the lids have either been attached by chains or if attached to riveted or pivoted arms, they lack the adjustability to accommodate different diameters of cans (e.g., Black, 2,471,257, but see Puetsch et al., 3,128,981). Also, although others have had a series of holes in the post to adjust for height of can, they did not include top holders (e.g., Alissandratos, 3,173,547).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION All parts of a trash can holder according to this invention, except the bolts, are fabricated of sheet metal. This results in economy of production. Also, all of the parts, although they may be elongated, have small dimensions and may readily be boxed for shipment to point of as sembly for use. The holder includes a post with a series of bolt holes so that the various parts can be bolted thereto for different sized trash cans. The bottom of the can is supported by the rim of the can fitting into a notch on a foot which is bolted near the bottom of the post. The instep portion of the foot leading between the post and the notch slopes downward so that when a trash can is carelessly thrown toward the post, the bottom rim will slide from the post downward until the rim catches in the notch. Vertical fingers extend upward to engage the handle of the trash can. The handle of the lid of the can is held within a slot on pivoted arms. The slot extends longitudinally of the arms and, therefore, when the arm is in a lowered position, the lid naturally fits on the can regardless of its diameter i.e., if the can is of small diameter the handle of the lid will be in a different position in the slot on the arm than if the can is of greater diameter.

An object of this invention is to provide a support for trash cans.

Another object is to provide a support for trash cans which holds their lids in proper position to fit securely on the cans.

Further objects are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy, lightweight, durable, sanitary, simple, safe, versatile, reliable, and easily packaged for shipment, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, assemble, operate and maintain.

Still further objects are to achieve the above with a method that is safe, sanitary, rapid, lightweight, versatile, efficient and inexpensive and does not require skilled people to assemble, adjust, operate and maintain.

The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, the different views of which are not necessarily to the same scale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a trash can holder according to this invention without the trash cans upon the holder.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the holder.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the holder taken substantially on lines 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the arms of the holder as would be seen looking from line 4-4 of FIG. 1 without the fingers or the feet being shown for clarity in illustrating the lid arms.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially On line 55 showing the fingers, the feet not being shown for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 66 showing the feet.

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the holder with the feet attached in a different arrangement than shown in FIG. 1 and with two trash cans shown, thus illustrating the versatility of the holder for supporting trash cans of different heights and different diameters.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Post 10 is constructed of a piece of sheet metal. The sheet metal is formed by four longitudinal bends as at 12 thus forming a four-sided post. One of these sides has a slot 14 which runs longitudinally the length of the post. The side opposite the slot has a series of bolt holes 16 for bolting the attachments to the post. The post is adapted to be driven in the ground to support the trash cans C.

Near the bottom of the post, two pair of feet 18 are bolted to the post. Each pair of feet has an ankle portion 20 which fits flat against either the slotted side of the post '10 or the side with the bolt holes 16. The ankle 20 has three holes therethrough for the reception of two bolts 21 which extend through all four feet and the post to securely attach the feet to the post. (FIG. 7 shows one pair of feet elevated from the other in which case bolts 21 would extend only through one pair of the feet.) Instep portion 22 of the foot has an upper portion which slopes downward from the ankle 20 to the toe 24. The top of each foot has a notch 26 between the instep 22 and the toe 2-4. This provides means for engaging the rim R of trash can C as clearly illustrated in FIG. 7.

The feet 18 are braced with strap 28 which is bolted between ears 30. Each of the ears 30 is struck from the bottom of the instep portion at about the position wherein the notch 26 is formed in the upper portion thereof. The feet 18 diverge outward from their mate at the instep portion 22 and converge at the toes 24. This results in better support for the can.

Finger member 32 is above the feet 18. The finger member is formed by a single piece of sheet metal which has a fiat portion 34 having two holes therethrough to receive bolts 36 which extend through the finger member and post 10. The finger member 32 has two vertical fingers 38 which extend on either side of the flat 34. These fingers 38 extend upward to engage the handles H of the can C. They are in a general line, parallel to the flat 34 and are offset so that they are near the center of the sides of the post 10 which connect the sides having the slot 14 and the bolt hole 16 (FIG. By the particular bends having flat portion 34 and the two sides 40, which fit snugly to the side portions, the finger member 32 fits very securely and rigidly to the post 10.

Two arms 42 are attached by a pivot bolt 44 to the top of the series of holes 16 which is at the top of post 10.

The arms 42 are each an elongated member which have the holes for the bolt 44 extending through a web portion 46. Extending along the upper portion is an upper flange 48 and along the lower portion a lower flange 50. The lower flange 50 is cut away adjacent to post forming a stop 52 so that the arm will be limited in the amount it rotates toward the post as more particularly seen in FIG. 1. Also, it may be seen that the web portion 46 is wider adjacent to the post 10 as away from it, i.e., the arm tapers from the post outward.

On the extremity of the arm 42, away from the post 10, elongated slot 54 extends longitudinally of the arm and is open at the extremity of the arm. This slot is defined on its lower side by the lower flange 50 and on the upper side by the un-cutaway portion of the web 46. The end of the slot is closed at the extremity by pin 56. This pin 56 is illustrated in the form of a stove-bolt, however, it will be understood that the pin 56 could also be held in place by some other type fastener besides a threaded nut.

The parts of the holder are made to be packaged in a carton measuring 60" x 5 x 3". This means that no member is over sixty inches long or five inches wide or three inches thick. Actually a convenient sized package may be one that the width or thickness is not over oneeighth of the length. Of course with this carton, the width is only one-twelfth the length and the thickness is only one-twentieth of the length. Thus no part is longer than the post nor more than one-eighth the length of the post in any other dimension.

Referring to FIG. 7 it may be seen that the trash can C is attached to the holder by inserting the handle H over one of the fingers 38. With this done, the lower rim of the can will almost automatically fit on the pair of feet 18 on the side of the post at finger 38. Also, as pointed out before, the upper sloping surface of the instep 22 helps guide the rim R into the notch 26. The toe 24 forms a natural ledge or support for the edge of the can even though the can might be of some different construction such as plastic which does not have a lower rim. The lower edge will rest on the ledge formed by the top of the toes 24 and be supported thereby while the can is also supported by its handle with the finger member 38.

In assembling the various parts, the finger members 38 are first placed on the post so that the can is held at the proper position to receive its lid L. Then the feet 18 are attached in proper relationship to support the bottom of the can. It will be noted that the can as a whole forms something of a cantilevered structure, i.e., the entire base of the can is not supported, only the bottom edge adjacent the post 10 is supported while the handle keeps the can from toppling over. Then, of course, the arms 42 are pivoted by pilot bolt 44 to the top. The handle of the lid is then inserted into the slot 54 and held in place against loss by the pin 56. It is particularly seen in FIG. 7 that the lid correctly fits over the can because of the length of the slot 54 and its ability to accommodate for different diameters of cans. 5 The embodiment shown and described above is only exemplary. I do not claim to have invented all the parts, elements or steps described. Various modifications can be made in the construction, material, arrangement, and operation, and still be within the scope of my invention. The limits of the invention and the bounds of the patent protection are measured by and defined in the following claims. The restrictive description and drawing of the specific example above do not point out what an infringement of this patent would be, but are to enable the reader to make and use the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A holder for trash cans comprising:

(a) a vertical post adapted to be driven in the ground,

(b) said post having a series of bolt holes through it,

(c) two pair of feet bolted to the post near the bottom thereof, each foot having an (i) instep portion which slopes downward from the post to (ii) a toe at the outer extremity of the foot havmg a (iii) notch for the bottom rim of trash cans between the instep and toe,

(d) two vertical fingers bolted to the post above the feet for the handles of the trash cans, and

(e) two elongated arms pivoted to the post above the fingers,

(i) attaching means on the extremity of each arm for attaching the lid of the trash cans thereto.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of said attaching means including (f) a slot in the arm extending longitudinally of the arm,

(g) said slot opening at the end of the arm, and

(h) a pin in the arm closing the slot at the extremity of the arm.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of each pair of feet (f) formed of sheet metal,

(g) parallel at the point they are attached to the post,

(h) divergent outward from each other at the instep portion, and

(j) convergent toward each other at the toe.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of said attaching means including (k) a slot in the arm extending longitudinally of the arm,

(in) said slot opening at the end of the arm, and

(n) a pin in the arm closing the slot at the extremity of the arm.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of (f) said post, feet, fingers, and arms, formed of sheet metal,

(g) none of the parts enumerated above (i) of greater dimension than the length of the post in their greatest dimension, and

(ii) of greater dimension than one-eighth the length of the post in all other dimensions,

(h) whereby said parts may be readily shaped and packed for shipment to the point of assembly and use.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 with the additional limitation of each pair of feet (k) parallel at the point they are attached to the post,

(In) divergent outward from each other at the instep portion, and

(n) convergent toward each other at the toe.

7. The invention as defined in claim 5 with the addi- 75 tional limitation of said attaching means including (j) a slot in the arm extending longitudinally of the arm, (k) said slot opening at the end of the arm, and (m) a pin in the arm closing the slot at the extremity of the arm. 8. The invention as defined in claim 7 with the additional limitation of each pair of feet (0) parallel at the point they are attached to the post, (p) divergent outward from each other at the instep portion, and (q) convergent toward each other at the toe. 9. The invention as defined in claim 8 with the additional limitation of said post formed (r) with four bends thus forming a four sided post with (s) a longitudinal slot extending along one side, and (t) said series of bolt holes in the side opposite the 6 longitudinal slot and aligned with said longitudinal slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,905,333 9/1959 Lownsberg 211-83 2,929,512 3/ 1960 McDougle. 2,930,561 3/ 1960 Bittle. 3,128,981 4/1964 Puetsch et al. 3,173,547 3/ 1965 Alissandratos. 3,270,993 9/1966 Montague 248-147 3,279,619 10/ 19 66 Alissandratos.

DAVID H. BROWN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 211-83; 248-147 

